BlackBerry Storm 2 rumors roundup

Back in November 2008 the BlackBerry Storm first rolled into Verizon Wireless (see our review). Since that time Verizon has pushed out a slew of firmware updates and even started a buy one, get one free deal. Despite these many attempts, the Storm is still not as well received as Verizon and RIM had hoped.

Now it seems that RIM wants another go at it and if the details and photos that have been surfacing are accurate, round 2, or Storm 2 as it’s being referred to, may have what it takes to win over even more customers from the iPhone and other devices.

According to the latest reports the Storm 2 could be showing up as soon as September and will feature WiFi and an improved touch screen using a new screen technology called TruePress, that will make typing “really pleasurable”, according to BGR. Otherwise, the Storm 2 is about the same look and feel, though a bit thinner than the Storm.

Is the Storm 2 a game changer? Definitely not but the new screen technology has my interest. The gimmic behind the “clickable” touch screen on the Storm wasn’t that impressive and the experience overall is maddening for typing after a while. Perhaps an improved touchscreen will mean that the screen doesn’t need to “click” anymore?

I know a ton of people who bought the Storm (and got another for free) that shortly thereafter returned the Storm and picked up the Curve. That’s what Verizon has to counter with the Storm 2. I think they need more than just a new kind of screen and WiFi to do that, though.

You can see some additional pictures at BGR but a big thanks to CrackBerry.com for not only breaking the story but also confirming that this is for real by having to remove the pics that they were hosting since RIM demanded that they be taken down.